The next wave of ‘horrifying’ Salford council cuts will hit the young, old and vulnerable, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.

The next wave of ‘horrifying’ Salford council cuts will hit the young, old and vulnerable, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.

More than 150 more jobs are to go; three children’s centres will shut; only the most vulnerable adults will be granted social care; and funding for groups helping deprived families will also be slashed. Mayor Ian Stewart said: “I’m horrified. It has been a heartbreaking process.”

The latest ‘horrifying’ cuts by Salford council will hit the young, old and vulnerable, the M.E.N. can reveal.

Salford town hall is axing 150 more jobs and stripping a string of services back to the bone in a bid to save £16.5m next year.

Three children’s centres will shut under the plans and only the most vulnerable adults will be granted social care.

Funding for groups helping deprived families will also be slashed.

Ten jobs in the council’s early years department are also at risk hitting vulnerable tots.

Meanwhile, the city’s mobile library faces the axe, opening hours at Salford museum and art gallery could be cut and parks would no longer be locked.

He said: “I am pleased that we have worked hard to minimise the impact of the government’s cuts on Salford people but I’m horrified at the implications.

“You can’t make cuts of this level without people getting hurt.

“It has been a heartbreaking process, a day in, day out task.”

The latest savings – which follow £75m in cuts and more than 1,000 job losses since 2010 – will include £700,000 from freezing the pay of senior managers.

More than £1m will be saved by cutting back office functions such as HR and admin – although the council says this will inevitably affect the quality and speed of frontline services.

More than 40 back office jobs are expected to go. Taxi and landlord licenses are also set for a hike.

But the biggest savings – more than £8m – are expected in children’s and adults services.

Council bosses say most can be found through paying less for social care contracts.

But they admit job losses in its early years department will result in ‘some reduction in support for vulnerable children aged 0-5’.

More than £300,000 will be cut from grants to voluntary groups and social enterprises currently working on family poverty.

Up to £2m would be saved by taking fewer children into care.

Barton Moss and Eccles children's centres would shut and be moved into existing sites elsewhere – not yet confirmed – and Mossfield would move into the new Swinton gateway centre, opening at the end of this year.

Adults in need of social care will only be granted help if their needs are assessed as ‘substantial’, a tougher test than the current ‘moderate’ measure.

No decision has yet been made on whether council tax will be frozen.

Some elements of the proposals are due to go out to consultation in the coming weeks.

Tory chief points finger at town halls over ‘dishonest’ tax HIKE

Grant Shapps

A senior minister has slammed some Greater Manchester councils for planning inflation-busting council tax hikes.

Tory party chairman Grant Shapps accused councils of exploiting a loophole in rules aimed at curbing rises to two per cent.

The M.E.N. understands a number of Greater Manchester councils are considering a rise of more than that.

Manchester has already announced a planned 3.7pc rise and Rochdale 3.5pc.

They argue a government grant aimed at persuading them to freeze the charge is too small and will leave them millions of pounds out of pocket. And they say the rise is only so high due to police, fire, transport and waste charges – over which they have no direct control – and so does not break rules.

But Mr Shapps attacked that as a 'sneaky route'. He told the M.E.N: “They have basically exploited a loophole in order to bang the charges on people in Manchester and surrounding areas who are already hard-pressed and struggling to make ends meet. It's not sympathetic of the council to say we will tax them more, dishonestly, through a loophole.”

The M.E.N. understands the Department for Communities and Local Government will be looking at stopping similar hikes next year.

Manchester announced its planned rise earlier this week as part of a £80m cuts package. It also intends to shut some swimming pools and libraries.

Mr Shapps said it was ‘unforgivable’ for the town hall not to dip into its reserves.

He also insisted the latest cuts were fair, adding: “I think most people would say councils need to play their part.”

Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese said: “The government should come clean – they have got an austerity programme and expect local government to pay more of it than central government.

“We are using reserves to help with the budget but you can only spend reserves once.”

Mr Shapps was in Greater Manchester to launch the Tory campaign in Cheadle, one of the party's key election targets.

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